GWYNEDD Council are pressing ahead with plans to reorganise schools in Bala and Dolgellau – despite a vote of no confidence by parents after a decision to merge primaries in Tywyn.

Plans to shut five village schools, replacing them with a new £5.4m primary near Tywyn, were approved by councillors last year.

It means closing Ysgol Abergynolwyn, Ysgol Aberdyfi, Ysgolion Bryncrug, Llanegryn and Llwyngwril, and opening a new area school in Llanegryn by September 2013.

A meeting of parents in Tywyn was held this week to find out their views about the changes and how the new area school would be run.

A majority of the 70 people who attended said they were still opposed to the merger.

They voted through a motion of no confidence in the plans by Gwynedd Council, because they didn’t feel they’d been consulted enough before the decision was made.

The council last night said it was aware of the vote, and said all the views of parents would be presented to councillors.

Gwynedd also confirmed it is now moving on to the next stage of it’s county-wide schools reorganisation plan, which will potentially see Ysgol Bro Tegid and Ysgol Beuno Sant primaries merged with secondary Ysgol y Berwyn, Bala.

While parents of schools in the Ysgol y Berwyn catchment area are generally in favour of the idea, parents at nearby Ysgol y Parc, which is recommended for closure, have vowed to carry on fighting against the transfer of its 18 pupils to Llanuwchllyn. The initial Bala consultations will end on February 4.

Also a review of schools in the Groeslon area near Caernarfon is due to commence this year.

Speaking after the no confidence vote, Fotcol (Friends of the Children of Llwyngwril) spokeswoman Sue Williams said: “We know the vote doesn’t count but it sends a strong message out about how we feel about Gwynedd Council.

“We strongly believe that the consultation should have happened before they took it to council last December. To make any decision about closing and opening schools you need to have consultation. Now the council are trying to play catch up.”

The formal consultation on closing the Tywyn schools and a replacement school ends on February 14. There will then be further council meetings when statutory closure notices will be issued at the beginning of March.

Objectors will then have two months for formal written objections. If formal objections are received, the matter will then be transferred to the Minister for Education in the Welsh Assembly Government.

A Gwynedd Council spokeswoman said: “Proposals to reorganise primary school education in the Tywyn catchment area were approved by the council in December 2009.

“As part of this reorganisation process the council is undertaking a statutory consultation on the proposal to build a community school on the outskirts of Llanegryn. The meeting held on Thursday night was part of this process.

“All views and comments expressed at the meeting have been recorded and will be presented to councillors at the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Committee on February 24 and the full council on March 1.”

Regarding the Dolgellau plans, she added: “Work is being undertaken on identifying possible sites to enable some proposals before the Education Portfolio Leader presents her preferred options during the spring.”